Shakespeare pretty much nailed it.
Nothing new under the sun.
Add to that the old “the more things change” chestnut and you’ve got a fairly simplistic life description suitable for all occasions.
The Parents Television Council has their knickers in a twist over the newest Britney Spears single.
It’s called “If U Seek Amy”.
They are lobbying for the video to be banned from airplay because of the “obviously inappropriate” content of the song.
“You don’t have to be a Rhodes scholar”, one protector of our virtue said, more or less, “to realize that this song has nothing to do with Amy.”
I hadn’t heard about the song until I read the article about the protest.
And as soon as I heard about the protest, I immediately went looking for the song.
Naturally.
I found it. I listened.
I laughed.
Nothing new under the sun.
Credit where it’s due, the song really doesn’t have anything to do with Amy.
It’s a word game.
Or lyric game as the case may be.
And I found myself with my own knickers in a twist.
Oh, not because the lyric offended me.
Because it took me a few minutes and a few listens to “get it”.
Damn, I really thought I was pretty hip for an old guy.
See if you can figure it out.
From the chorus:
“All the boys and all the girls/ are beggin to if u seek amy”
No comprende?
Hint:
It’s like that old campfire game where we were told to summon up the spirit of ancestors past by chanting the words “ohwah” “tagoo” and “siam” over and over…and over.
Ohwah.
Tagoo.
Siam.
Oh what
A Goose
I am.
Clearer now?
Try again.
“Beggin to if u seek Amy”
Beggin to
If
U
Seek
Amy…
Beggin to
F
U
C
K
Me.
Ohhhh.
There it is.
What a hoot.
And lest I be branded as a morally bankrupt, gray haired perv, let me just offer that pushing the envelope of “naughty” is as much a rite of passage as the chaste first kiss.
Anybody else remember when the Rolling Stones brought about the end of civilization when they dared to sing “Let’s Spend The Night Together”?
In 1967?
For you youngers, how about Van Halen’s destruction of mankind with the release of their album, “OU812” ?
It’s another word game.
Think about it.
While the case can be made that a downward spiral of anything has to eventually take us to the bottom, I think it also fair to say that the empire hasn’t been severely dented, let alone damaged, by kids singing lyrics that secretly mean…well, what they secretly mean.
They’ll grow up.
We’ll survive.
That’s the thing about that wacky old envelope.
It always seems to bounce back from the push.
In the meantime, thank God for vigilant groups like the Parents Television Council who shine a spotlight on these cracks in the foundation of our republic.
And triple the sales of the song that a lot of people wouldn’t even have given a second thought.
Until they heard it was naughty.
The record industry thanks you, PTC.
And they want to know how soon can you start ragging on Kelly Clarkson’s new song?
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